Before Life Happened
by xfirefly9x
Summary: Mel muses over life before the kids and Joe.
1. Before Life Happened

_**Before Life Happened**_

It's weird thinking about how things were before. You know. Before life happened. Before the kids came into my life, before they were mine. Before Joe became our nanny. Before we all made a life together.

I can barely remember how it was. And that's not just because I spent a lot of my time back then getting drunk enough to erase my memory. Okay. Well, maybe that's a part of it. A small part, though. Honest. I mean, I still drink wine every day. Alcohol isn't a stranger now.

I just... it's just that things have changed.

I have _kids _now. I have a … co-parent. I have responsibilities to other people, not just to myself and my work. I have it all.

And somehow, I'm still single. I have everything - kids, house and job - but not a man. I've always thought it was meant to go the other way around. Meet a guy first, buy a home, have kids, maybe get a dog. That's the logical order. It was the house first for me, then the kids and Joe.

When comes the man?

I have to wonder. I mean, I've dated plenty of guys, and there have been a few I thought for a moment could be The One. But then, something happened or they showed their true selves, and that dream was swept away as fast as they swept in.

Where does someone like me find someone like... I don't know... Joe, I guess. Only not Joe, because he's... well, Joe. That would be weird, me and Joe. Ha. Like that'll ever happen. I'm sure he's against a relationship with me as much as I am against one with him.

Though, now that I think about it, I suppose it wouldn't be completely awful. He's a great cook and great around the house... usually. And he's not bad looking - though I'd never tell him that. He has nice eyes...

No. No, bad line of thought.

Joe and me? Not happening. But there'll be some other guy, at some point. I guess I have a few more frogs to kiss before I find my prince.

And then maybe we'll get that dog.

_fin._


	2. Plummeting

_**Plummeting**_

Her fall was hard. She should've seen it coming, should've realised that it was bound to happen. But she didn't. She didn't see any of it until it was too late.

She slipped. Her grip on everything, on reality, loosened, and she fell. Plummeted, really. She'd fallen before, but not like this. Not to this intensity.

This was a fall she knew she would never recover from. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

She fell, and fell hard.

It was a good thing Joe was waiting, arms outstretched, to catch her.

_fin._


	3. Comfort Food

_**Comfort Food**_

"Joe," she called out, as her feet slapped the stairs. Her hands played with her hair, fed it into a hair-tie. "What's for breakfast?"

She burst into the kitchen and found him in his usual spot, by the kitchen counter. She smiled in spite of herself. It was nice coming downstairs every morning to find him there, ready to cook her a meal, ready to listen to her rants - even if he did give her a hard time sometimes.

It was just.. nice. Ordinary. It made her feel warm inside.

"Breakfast won't be too long." Joe glanced at her, his attention taken away from the fry-pan at his fingertips. "Sit down. I'll bring it over when it's done."

She smiled. "Thanks, Joe. I had the worst sleep last night so I'm really looking forward to some good comfort food."

"Omelette sound good?"

"Sure does."

"Did someone say omelette?" Ryder loped in, his backpack over one shoulder.

"Is someone going to be late for school?" she replied. "I'm thinking so. Lennox left a half hour ago."

Ryder glanced at his watch, swore and rushed out the door.

"But he hasn't eaten yet," Joe argued.

"He'll be fine. He-"

"And he left his lunch on the counter." He pointed at a paper bag lying on its side.

"He has money."

"He's a kid."

She looked at him, trying to figure out how to respond to that. "Oh, crap."

Joe nodded at her, then grabbed the bag and ran out after Ryder.

She watched him go, and smiled. Ryder would be long gone by now. It was nice to know Joe cared so much for him though, that he would run after him with a bag of food because he didn't want him to starve. That was a part of his job description, she supposed.

But sometimes it seemed like Joe was more than just a nanny to the kids. More than sometimes, even. It felt like they were a family. And it was mornings like these that reminded her of that.

_fin._


	4. Where They Should Be

_**Where They Should Be**_

For once, the solitude is killing her. Mel goes out of her way to organise a date with herself all the time, just to get out of the house, to spend some time by herself, but this... this is free time she's been given without careful planning, and she hates it.

She hates that it affects her so much, that she feels so vulnerable and alone without them. Lennox and Ryder are both away for a week visiting their father. And that would be fine, if not for the fact that Joey was off visiting his family, too. Or maybe it was a girl and he told her it was a family trip to avoid her questioning. Whatever.

She wishes they were back, that they'd return to her. The quiet in the house is eerie and wrong. Years ago, she'd have loved it. She would have turned up the music, taken a glass of wine to the bathroom and bathed with the door wide open.

Now, she just wants them back. She wants their voices to fill the house. She wants to hear their petty arguments and bickering and Joey's snide remarks at her inability to cook.

She wants her family back at home with her, where they should be.

_fin._


End file.
